Carl Theodor Dreyer's Gertrud: The Moving Word

Acknowledgments

ix Acknowledgments The thanks I give for help with this little book are all out of proportion to its modesty and length, but not out of proportion to the enormous debts of gratitude I owe. On a separate page I dedicate this work to the memories of William Nestrick and Casey Finch, but their names bear repeating here. Many of these pages got their start in the dissertation on Dreyer I wrote at the University of California, Berkeley. Charles Tesson and Michel Sandras provided early inspiration and guidance. The English department at U.C. Berkeley and the American Scandinavian Foundation provided research grants for study in Copenhagen. There I was made welcome by the kind staff of the Danish Film Institute, under Ib Monty’s direction, under the guidance of library staff Karen Jones, Lars Ølgaard, and Tim Voldsted. Peter Schepelern and Martin Drouzy shared their homes and their encyclopedic knowledge of Dreyer and Danish film with me. My colleagues and students at Columbia University have provided a wonderful home since for my ongoing work in film history and film theory. At Focus Features and, earlier, at Good Machine, my coworkers have put up with many irregular hours and preoccupied “phasings out” when I have disappeared into my research and writing. Particular thanks go to Ang Lee, David Linde, Andrew Karpen, and Ted Hope. Peter Kujawski shepherded the dissertation through my hectic schedule with unfailing good humor and skill. First JanelleTroxell and then Elise MacAdam provided expert research support; Vina Tran and Felipe Tewes helped in the preparation of the manuscript, and Amanda Doxtater assisted with crucial research and translations from Swedish sources; her work was greatly facilitated by Mats Cronwik, Magnus Blomquist, and Ida Poulson. Craig Knobles shared his translation of Söderberg’s play with me. Jytte Jensen and Mary Lea Bandy at the Museum of Modern Art invited me to help with their catalogue on Dreyer and first put into print my early thoughts on him, some of which are reprinted here by permission from Carl  ackn ow l ed gm ent s Th. Dreyer © 1988 The Museum of Modern Art. And Nelson Moe, Adam Bresnick , David Levin, Michael Levine, and Daniel Purdy—the Hunt and Theory Club—read chapters and provided crucial (if my sodden memory serves) help. Jeffrey Knapp,Charles Musser, Edith Kramer, Steven Nichols, Emily Anderson, and Peter Bowen provided help at various points along the way, and Jacqueline Ettinger patiently and expertly guided me through the publication process. Catherine Gallagher gave the final push that returned me to Dreyer and my dissertation. My doctoral committee—Mark Sandberg, Richard Hutson, and Julia Bader—provided painstaking and patient oversight. But it was the chair of my committee, Carol Clover, who inspired, and endured, the most. Two things are certain of this book: it can never meet her high standards, and it owes its entire existence to her. Finally, thanks to my three muses, Nancy Kricorian and Nona and Djuna Schamus. Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Gertrud ...